I get it. Your people are your lifeblood. The little decisions they make on a day-to-day basis can be the difference between a brilliant new strategy for taking over the market or a stupid mistake that tanks your whole quarter. You need them to be on their best. You pay for them to be on their best. So when they’re not performing the way you know they could, it can be very frustrating. It is no wonder you spend so many sleepless nights worrying about how to make them work smarter, harder, longer. You implore them in your mind, “If we could all just push together, it would result in a wonderful improvement for everyone in the company.” Yet the reality when you get to work is much different. Sometimes it seems like no matter how much you cajole, pressure or threaten, they never really put their backs into it and work together like you know they can.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth you’re going to have to face. If your people aren’t working as hard as they can, it is because you are failing them as a manager. The good news is, that means it is something you can change and fix. There is a little known secret that can turn your perspective on its head and help you see what changes you can personally make to achieve your goals. That is this: your people already want to work hard. Every one of us feels the desire to be part of something bigger than ourselves, to be part of a team and to make a meaningful difference. We want our work to mean something. We want to have an impact on the world, and we want to feel like our days are spent doing something important. And if we really believe that is true, most of us will work our knuckles to the bone to see that bigger goal come to fruition - without the need for pressure or reminders.

The reason most people do not work hard is not because they don’t want to. It is almost always because in their mind they think they cannot do what is expected of them, or because they think their work will not matter or have any impact if they do. When you realize this, you start to realize that your efforts to push them harder are only crushing them against obstacles they cannot remove themselves. Instead, keep this perspective that they want to do well, and try to refocus your efforts on finding and removing the obstacles that are keeping them from achieving their own goals of success and meaning. That is your primary objective as a manager - not to motivate or to crack the whip, but instead to use your influence and higher perspective to find ways to make it easier for each of them to do their job and do it well, be that by changing office policy or procedure, better coordinating efforts of individual team members, improving communication methods, or even addressing conflict or distress that might get in the way of performance.

If you have a problem employee, try to put yourself in their shoes and imagine yourself trying to perform their job function. Ask yourself these critical questions:

• Have I been told exactly how to perform my job the way it needs to be done?
• Do I know what my success metrics are? How will I know if I have done a good job or a bad job? (Aside from waiting until my boss yells at me.) What measurements can I use on my own to know if my work has met the bar of “good enough” or “above and beyond”?
• Do I have the tools and the necessary training to do the job the way it needs to be done, or am I constantly having to make do with workarounds and poor substitutes?
• Is it even worth it to do a good job? Will someone else either undo or duplicate my work, or take the credit for it?

These are soul-crushing obstacles and if they are a regular part of your work culture, you will have difficulty with employee buy-in and motivation. Find them and remove them immediately, or poor performance (and likely high turnover) will be a regular part of your corporate experience.

If you cannot figure out what is in your employee’s way - ask them. Don’t use a poll or an email or anything that makes them defensive or encourages dishonesty. Stop by their desk in an informal way and bring up the conversation casually. “Hey John, I’ve noticed that your work hasn’t been all the way up to snuff recently, and I wanted to check in with you to see what’s getting in your way. I know you’re trying; I can see that. I just think there is probably something about the way your job is structured that is making it difficult for you to perform at your best, and I wanted to see what I could do to help get some of those obstacles out of your way. Can you tell me what things are frustrating you most right now in your work?” This helps set them at ease so they don’t feel attacked or under the magnifying glass and helps solicit their honest feedback about exactly what the problem is. Usually, this will be something that was previously invisible to you - that you may not even have known was happening, and can be invaluable way to find problems that you didn’t know were there. Or they may mention an issue that you already know about, but they describe it in a way that sparks a new idea you hadn’t considered to help alleviate the problem. Occasionally, you may not get any useful feedback from this type of questioning. But in these cases, it is possible the conversation itself will spur the employee’s mind to see that there really isn’t anything in their way and will give them the jump-start they need to up their game. That is a win, too.

Of course, this only works to the extent that your subordinates trust you, so always do everything in your power to be honest with them and keep your word to them when you give it. That ensures that you keep this valuable information gate open so you can help diagnose issues when they arise. Build a vision that they can believe in. Be sure you regularly and clearly paint a grand picture of why your company exists and how it’s helping to make a brighter tomorrow (Hint: it shouldn’t be money) Help each of your people to see how their own contributions are helping to make the world a better place. Make them see what you see about how their efforts can be meaningful and useful, remove any obstacles in their way, and watch them surprise you with their ingenuity and hard work.